“Mother of All Bombs” Right Weapon Against Right Target: Gen. Nicholson

US General John Nicholson, NATO commander in Afghanistan said using the “Mother of all bombs” in Afghanistan was the right weapon against the right target and it was among US plans to use against ISIS group in 2017.

“Last night US forces Afghanistan conducted a strike against an ISIS complex in Achin district of Nangarhar province of Afghanistan,” said Gen. Nicholson.

Nicholson noted that in cooperation with Afghan army they will remove sanctuaries from Afghanistan.

“There will be no sanctuary for Daesh in Afghanistan. With these operations being conducted by the Afghan army with us working in partnership we will remove the sanctuary in Afghanistan. So fighters may not flow from Syria to Afghanistan. This is the objective of the operation,” Nicholson said.

He also pointed at Afghan forces effective role in this operation and urged the region to recognize it as a positive thing.

“The Afghan army is being extremely effective in this so if this is recognized by the neighbors and the region, this is a positive thing,” he added.

Nicknamed “the mother of all bombs,” the weapon was dropped from an MC-130 aircraft in the Achin district of Nangarhar, bordering Pakistan.

Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said no civilians were harmed in the massive blast that targeted a network of caves and tunnels that had been heavily mined.

“No civilian has been hurt and only the base, which Daesh used to launch attacks in other parts of the province, was destroyed,” Waziri said in a statement.

He was using an Arabic term that refers to Islamic State, which has established a small stronghold in eastern Afghanistan and launched deadly attacks on the capital, Kabul.